


Trying On Normal

by ElizaCove



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Constructive Criticism Welcome, F/M, High School, Honestly I'm still trying to figure out how to write well, M/M, Mild Blood, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Percabeth is my favorite, Post-The Heroes of Olympus, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pregnant Sally Jackson, Scars, Trauma, violence being the wars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:15:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24223390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizaCove/pseuds/ElizaCove
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are starting their senior year of high school. Together they try to make their way through unscathed. They know they can't live normally for long, but that doesn't mean they can't try.*TEMPORARY HIATUS*
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Paul Blofis/Sally Jackson
Comments: 24
Kudos: 182





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy! :)

Senior year of high school.

Never in a million years would Percy have thought he would’ve made it this far. After all that he’d been through, this was still one of the scariest things he’d ever had to do. This was his first day, and thank the gods that Annabeth was able to enroll here too. He wasn’t alone. No matter what, he would always have her. When they promised they wouldn’t be separated again they’d meant it. 

He looked around, Annabeth’s hand in his as they entered the building. They were both tense. On the lookout for anything peculiar. Anything  _ otherworldly. _

They had both been given their schedules and a tour earlier in the week, so when the bell rang, they knew where to go.

When their schedules were being made, they had to change it to make sure all their classes were together. The only class they couldn’t haggle was P.E.. It made Percy a little nervous, especially considering his past experience with a certain  _ deadly  _ game of dodgeball. But after realizing that the counselor wouldn’t budge, he did his best to reassure Annabeth it was okay.

When they entered the history classroom, the teacher looked up at them and his eyes were drawn immediately to their clasped hands.

“You must be the new students!” He greeted with a clearly fake cheer in his voice. “Let's see, we can put you here,” he directed Annabeth to a seat near the front, “and you sir can sit in that seat over there.” 

All the way across the room. In the back. Great. 

Even being this far away from her put Percy on edge. What if something happened and he couldn’t get to her in time? And it was thoughts like these that plagued him through the end of the period.

As soon as the bell rang he jumped up and walked straight for her. 

“You have P.E. next.” she reminded him. 

“You know, we could just skip next class.” He tried not to sound too hopeful.

Annabeth takes her education much more seriously than Percy does, but his nerves were shot just by that short distance in the same room. If something were to happen, he would have no way of knowing it. 

He must’ve not done a good job at hiding his thoughts as Annabeth squints at him and says, “I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine.  _ You  _ will be fine. Your gym shorts have pockets. Now come on. We’re going to class.” 

She turned to leave, pulling Percy miserably along.

She led him all the way to the locker rooms before giving him a quick kiss and hurrying off to her next class. He watched her walk away until she rounded a corner and was out of sight. It wasn’t until the bell rang to start the class that he realized he was still staring in the direction she went. 

Hurrying to get inside and changed, Percy realized that there were still people in the locker room. Now, he’s not one to go ogling men, but the skin on their backs were so clean, so bare. And he was reminded of his own, riddled with scars from his near-constant battles. It would probably be better to wait everyone out before changing, just to avoid questions. So he did, and by the time he got into the gym, class had already begun.

“Mr. Jackson, correct?” A buff old balding man approached him. Obviously the teacher. And definitely not someone you’d want to get in a fight with.

“Yes sir, sorry I’m late.” They sized each other up for a good few seconds, the man probably already deciding Percy was a troublemaker. Whereas Percy had decided that he could take the man down in less than a minute if he wasn’t secretly a monster. 

“Well Jackson, since it’s your first day I’ll go easy on you. Five laps around the gym and then join the rest of the class. I’ll make sure someone makes sure you know what you’re doing when you get back. Hop to it!” He blew his whistle in Percy’s face and gathered the rest of the class while he was doing laps. 

When he joined everyone in stretching, the teacher looked at Percy suspiciously but turned away. A couple of moments later, he was walking over with a kid who looked a bit like Jason, but this kid had brown hair and had less muscle.

“Jackson, this is Stevens. He’ll be your best friend till you can figure out my class. But until then,  _ best friends _ . Got that?” He pointed a finger threateningly at each of them before turning around and walking to the front of the group.

“Alright weight room today!” he yelled, “Better see some good forms. Go!” The class began walking as a whole to a door on the side of the gym.

“I’m Noah, by the way.” The boy next to Percy reached out a hand to shake in greeting, which Percy took. 

“Percy.” he responded, “The teacher is a bit intense. He always like that?”

Noah laughs. “Oh yeah. That wasn’t even bad. Just wait a couple days and show up for warm-ups and you’ll know what I mean. He once told us that when his wife had their baby, that kid ‘dropped down and gave him twenty’ because some of the freshmen were having a hard time doing all their push-ups. That and whenever he yells ‘BETTER RUN FAST SO THE ZOMBIES DON’T GET YOU’-”

“STEVENS!” They whipped around to see the man himself clomping towards the pair. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh, I’m just telling Percy here what’s what. You know, letting him get a feel for the class.”

It took all Percy had in him not to crack up. He managed to hold it in, but he was shaking from the effort.

“I think for him to be able to ‘get a feel for the class’ he would have to participate. Don’t you think Stevens?”

“Oh yeah! We were getting around to that. Just thought I’d start with a more verbal introduction since this is his first day and all. We’ll be getting to work now sir no need to worry! Come on Percy!” And he dragged Percy towards the weight room where the rest of the class was and away from the man frowning after them.

By the time class was over, Percy still hadn’t worked up much of a sweat. He didn’t want to freak anyone out so he decided to just follow whatever Noah did and not do anything more than that. 

Noah, on the other hand, was now in desperate need of a shower.

“I’ll catch up with you in a bit, yeah?” he said as they reached the locker rooms.

Percy agreed and went to go change. Or wait until everyone else had left so he could change. It was a couple of minutes before the bell was supposed to ring and there were only a couple of people left. He decided it would be safe to find a private corner so he wouldn’t be late meeting Annabeth.

Luck had never been on his side so he shouldn’t have been surprised as Noah walked up to him right after he’d taken his shirt off. He hurried as quickly as he could to get his other one on even as he saw the boy’s eyes widen. 

Then he stood, facing Noah, waiting for him to say something.

When he realized that Percy wasn’t about to say anything he started, “Um… are you… okay?”

At that, Percy gave a bit of a chuckle. “Yeah, man. I’m alright. Come on. The bell’s about to ring. I have to meet my girlfriend before next class.” They began walking away from the locker room even though he was still getting worried looks from his new friend. “Hey, you mind not telling anyone about that? It’s not really something I want to broadcast.” 

Noah nodded. “Of course Percy. Just… you are okay though, right? I mean, those looked like they were pretty nasty when you got them and there were so many so if you’re getting hurt you should tell someone and-”

“Noah.” Percy stopped him in his tracks. “I promise you I’m fine. I’ve been in some dangerous situations before, but I know how to handle it. Plus, I’m trying to stay away from all that for a while. So yeah, I’m fine.” He could tell by Noah’s face that this only brought more questions so he sighed and added, “I know it sounds weird but you just have to trust me on this. I’m not in any danger.”  _ For now _ . 

It was then that Annabeth showed up, saving them from any further conversation. 

“Oh! Hey Annabeth. This is Noah. He’s in my P.E. class. Noah, this is Annabeth, my girlfriend.”

They exchanged greetings and Annabeth started to sweep him away worrying about getting to class on time when a thought popped into his head. 

“Hey Noah,” he turned back, “um… please don’t look me up.” Annabeth punched him and started walking faster.

“Seriously Seaweed Brain? Now he’s going to do exactly that.” She scolded.

“Oh. I didn’t really think through it that much.” He admitted. His impulsiveness was another thing that wasn’t always on his side. “Guess I’ll just talk to him about whatever he finds tomorrow. Can’t be that bad, right? But he did see my back so he’s probably assuming the worst already.”

“Honestly Percy. You can’t go five minutes without me. To be fair, I didn’t really like mine either.”

“Who said I didn’t like P.E.? I had an amazing time! Why didn’t you like your class?” 

Annabeth blushed a bit before saying something about how apparently blueprints don’t count as art.

This time, when they entered the classroom, they did so without holding hands, and as a reward, the teacher sat them next to each other.

The rest of the day went by fairly uneventfully, at lunch, Noah found them and introduced them to his group. They sat and talked with everyone until they had to go to their next class but were delighted by all the friendliness that had enveloped them. 

By the end of the day, they were mentally exhausted. Not a feeling they were unfamiliar with. So it was a huge relief that they were able to immediately go home and crash on the couch instead of running from monsters and sleep gods know where. 

They did, however, have a pregnant Sally Jackson to appease, which wasn’t that hard when they told her how tired they were. After promising they’d tell her all about their first day of school once they were better rested, she left to the kitchen to make them a snack. Paul arrived home later in the day to greet them and his wife.

That night, as always, was filled with nightmares. Of monsters, wars,  _ Tartarus _ . Whenever they woke, they always had the other right there to comfort them.

Sally and Paul agreed to let Annabeth live with them after the last war. They had rules of course, but she knew that they were the best comfort for each other’s nightmares. She trusted them. And with everything that they’d been through, they deserved whatever comforts they could get. Plus when Sally has her baby, it wouldn’t hurt to have a couple more hands to help out.

***

The next day, as expected, Noah was acting a bit strange.

“You looked me up,” Percy stated as they ran laps around the track. Noah was quiet. He looked guilty. “What did you find?”

“A lot.” He admitted. “You were kidnapped when you were twelve. You haven’t stayed at the same school for more than a year. The interviews I’ve watched with your stepdad make him seem like kind of a dick.”

Percy tensed. He hadn’t thought about Smelly Gabe in a long time. “That guy was definitely a piece of work.” he made a weird face at his own wording. Definitely a piece of work.

“Does that mean he’s gone?” Percy nodded and kept running. “Can I ask about your scars?”

Percy shrugged. “Told you. Been in some sticky situations. I haven’t really had what you'd call a perfect life.”

Noah was silent except for his pants for breath. 

“Listen. There’s a lot of things about my life you’ll never know. And I’m sorry about that but it’s just the way it has to be. But I promise that you’ll still get the chance to know me, and Annabeth, even with all the grey areas. Is that okay?” 

They were at the end of their laps so Percy stopped to look at Noah while he considered Percy’s words. He felt a little bad telling him this, but thinking about the alternative was definitely worse.

“Yeah, okay.” he finally said between heavy breaths. “As long as you’re honest with me I don’t care what you keep to yourself.” he looked at Percy quizzically. “How are you not out of breath right now?”

Percy smirked. “Practice.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's my sister's 18th birthday so I'm posting this early for her. Happy birthday Gremlin.

After school, he and Annabeth were snuggled on the couch eating blue chocolate chip cookies. Paul and Sally were sitting across from them. They were adjusted to fit the extra space of her swollen belly. One of Paul’s hands rested on the baby bump, his eyes clearly conveying how in love he was with both his wife and his baby. 

Percy was so thankful for Paul. His presence really had made his mom look so much younger. And now with a baby sister just a couple weeks away, his life just couldn’t get better.

He tried not to think about how much that scared him. Last time everything seemed perfect, he disappeared for months, lost his memory, and had to fight in  _ another  _ war. Not to mention he and Annabeth had been sucked into literal hell.

Right here, right now, sitting with his family, what if it wasn’t real? He hugged Annabeth tighter to him and whispered an ‘I love you’ into her ear.

That night, when they went to bed, he decided to bring it up.

“How long do you think we’ll last here before another monster comes around?”

She looked at him carefully. “I don’t know Perce. We’re powerful demigods. We’re bound to get noticed at some point. But when that time comes, we’ll take care of it. Everything will be fine.”

“What if there’s another war?” he whispered. Afraid that if the words were said too loud, it would make it happen.

“We’ve lived through two wars already and we’re not even eighteen yet. If there was another war, which is doubtful, then we’d sit it out.” He didn’t believe her. She knew he didn’t. Maybe she didn’t believe it either. But they kept it at that anyway. If there was another war, they can’t just choose to not participate. There’s always another prophecy. They somehow find them. Usually him, being one of the kids of the Big Three. But Annabeth is usually dragged along anyway, even if she wasn’t originally a part of it. Being left behind would be so much worse, as they’ve experienced. Never again.

“It’ll be okay Percy. We can take whatever the world throws at us. And right now, that’s high school. And in a couple weeks, it’ll be a baby sister. That’s all we have to worry about right now.”

He reluctantly agreed as they settled down. Soon enough, they both fell into a fitful night of sleep.

“You guys always look exhausted.” James, one of their new friends, said to them at lunch one day.

They looked at each other with tired smiles before turning back to James.

“We don’t always sleep very well. Guess we have some shared nightmares, so there’s a lot of waking up throughout the night. And honestly, as soon as one of us is awake the other one is too.” Percy replied. 

“Wait, so you guys are dating, and your parents let you live together? Seriously, your parents must be the most chill people in the world!” Ava chimed in. She seemed to think for a minute, “Unless, like, you’re step-siblings or something, in which case I’m not afraid to tell you that that’s weird.”

They both laughed and Annabeth tried to explain. “My parents live in California. I’ve been staying with Percy for a while. We’ve had some… crazy adventures together, so living with him isn’t that big a change. Except we’re with his mom and stepdad now. They really are amazing people.”

“Huh. My parents would freak if I even  _ hinted _ at wanting to live with my girlfriend.” Noah said.

James looked at him incredulously. “Dude, what girlfriend? Last I checked Abigail had broken up with you.”

“Okay, first of all. Not what happened. Second, I’ve been talking to someone for a while. It was just never brought up.”

“Yeah, right. Who?”

Noah deflated a bit before regaining his composure. “I met her online. You wouldn’t know her.”

This was met by raucous laughter from the group.

“Oh yeah, I bet she’s a real catch! Hot body, fun personality. Good job man, I’m proud of you!” one of them shouted out.

“For your information,” Noah tried to raise his voice above the group, “she is! And we’re making plans to meet each other face to face soon! So I know she’s legit!”

“Yeah? How much are you paying her?” Ava laughed.

“Oh my gods, you are so gullible.” Percy chuckled. 

“Like you haven’t met anyone online before.” Noah retorted.

“Nope. Never.” Percy replied.

“Seriously? How do you make friends?” He looked at the two of them for an explanation. They had so many stories of different people. It seemed impossible that they hadn’t met at least  _ one  _ of them online.

“We’ve already told you. We travel a lot. Meet a lot of people along the way. Neither of us even has a phone so it would be a little difficult to meet people like that.”

“What do you mean?! How do you not have phones?” James shouted, seemingly dumbfounded.

The group, in Percy’s opinion, was acting a bit more dramatically than they should as they vaulted question after question at them. Most of which Annabeth, thank the gods, seemed fine answering. Percy chimed in occasionally with a thought or two of his own but eventually, lunch ended and they had to disperse.

After that, Percy and Annabeth met James at their next class. Math was taught by a bright young lady named Ms. Kelly. Percy liked her. He wasn’t the best at math but she seemed to explain things in a way that made sense to him. He still had to ask Annabeth or James questions here and there, but overall, he thought he was doing pretty good. 

He found out pretty quickly that James was almost as smart as Annabeth, although he would never tell her that. All of the questions Percy had, it was almost a race to see who would answer first.

Annabeth was usually the winner of these little competitions, but Percy could still see James writing down the answer almost as soon as Annabeth began to explain whatever it was.

“Why is it that you say gods instead of God?” he asked them one day. 

It took a minute before they could come up with an appropriate response, but Annabeth finally responded.

“I guess it’s just something we picked up while traveling. Instead of just one God that controls everything, there’s multiple. They each have their own thing. We focus a lot on Greek mythology.”

Percy eyed her. Bringing up Greek mythology was a bit risky. Gods know Percy has a hard time keeping his mouth shut. What if he accidentally lets something slip?

“Oh, really? I used to be really interested in that stuff. Had a cool silver ring with Poseidon on it.”

Percy started choking on air.

“Mr. Jackson, do you need some water?” Ms. Kelly asked from across the room.

After he’d caught his breath he assured her, and James, that he was fine.

He decided to venture with a scratchy voice, “So, Poseidon, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.” James said, “I found the ring at this old antique shop and I couldn’t help myself. I can wear it tomorrow if you want to see.”

“Oh. Um. Sure! Poseidon is one of my favorites.” Oh, gods, this was awkward. 

“Athena is mine.” Annabeth chimed in. “So, does having the ring make Poseidon your favorite, or was that just a lucky grab?” 

“I’m not really sure. I do like Poseidon. But I think Dionysus is pretty cool too.”

Percy made a weird sound in his throat in an attempt to shove everything he wanted to say back down. He stared at James probably more threateningly than he meant to.

“I mean. He seems pretty powerful.” he tried to explain at Percy’s look. “Can make people go crazy, God of Wine and all that.”

“He can also turn you into a dolphin.” Percy added, trying to not sound like he hates the guy. 

“Huh, yeah I guess. Never really thought of that.”

Annabeth gave him a look and they quickly changed the topic.

James obviously caught on to their not so subtle actions but decided to let it go. Percy and Annabeth were definitely a strange duo, but he had a feeling that if he dug deeper, things would get even weirder. And he wasn’t sure he was ready for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! Good or bad, I'm open to everything. I hope you liked it! More coming this weekend :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I've been waiting for so long to post this. It hasn't even been a week yet! This chapter is a little shorter but I still really like it. It's got a bit of fluff and a bit of angst. I really hope you guys like it!

Sally was going into labor. 

Percy and Annabeth had been sleeping when they heard the scream. Not from Sally. It was Paul.

“OH HOLY SHIT WE GOTTA GO! PERCYYY!” 

They had both jumped out of bed immediately, Percy with Riptide already formed in his hand.

“Percy! Go grab the go-bag! It’s on the kitchen table. Annabeth! Here’s my keys, go start the car. Everybody just  _ stay calm _ !”

“Paul!” Sally yelled in exasperation. “Honestly! You’re the one who needs to calm down! Come on. Help me to the car.”

Paul rushed to her side, doting all the way while she tried her best to calm him down.

They sat in the back while Percy drove with Annabeth riding shotgun. The whole way there, they listened to Paul worrying about one thing or another. 

“What if there are no rooms open? Oh my god, do you think Estelle will be okay? OH MY GOD, I’M GOING TO BE A DAD! Oh god, Sally are you doing okay? We’re almost to the hospital. You can do this.” 

Sally shut him up by making him breathe with her the rest of the way.

***

Several long hours later, Sally, Paul, Percy, and Annabeth sat in the hospital room, staring at the new baby in Sally’s arms. 

“Would you like to hold your sister, Percy?” 

Percy was too choked up to say anything, so he nodded and held his arms out. Once she was secure, he looked at her. All that was visible was her face. The rest of her was wrapped tightly in a blanket.

“Hey Estelle.” he said gently. Her eyes were just barely open. She was so light in his arms. This was his  _ sister _ . There was no doubt in his mind that he would do whatever it takes to protect her. He couldn’t describe, even in his own mind, the feelings of love and adoration directed at the baby in his arms.

***

“Woah, the circles under your eyes look like mini black holes. Where’ve you guys been?” The senseless greeting award goes to Ava!

While not in any of their classes, Ava still managed to make herself very known to them, both at lunch, and during spontaneous and unannounced visits to their home. How she got their address, Percy will never know.

“Percy’s mom had the baby.” Annabeth said with a yawn as she sat down to eat. 

“Oh my god! I’ll give you guys a couple days to settle before I break in to see her. I can’t believe neither of you will get a phone. I could’ve known sooner! And you would’ve had pictures to show me!” she pouted. “See? Now I have to go and text Sally,  _ who just had a baby _ , because she seems to be the only reasonable person living in that house.” She pulled out her phone and began typing.

“We don’t need phones! You seem to be doing just fine texting  _ my mom _ . Honestly, just come over later. You know she loves you.”

The moment Ava had been introduced to Percy’s mom, they’d hit it off. It was amazing to see someone nose their way in so skillfully. By the end of her first visit, she’d already gotten a phone number and promises of fresh-baked sweets from Sally. Percy definitely had to give her credit. She knew what she was doing.

“Hey, you’re part of the group now. That means you get to be subject to all of my intrusiveness of your home life.” Was the response she gave when they asked about her showing up at their home for the first time. Percy still thought it was weird how often she and his mom texted after that.

Her squeal informed them that she’d received pictures of Estelle. 

Percy and Annabeth weren’t altogether present in the following weeks. Between the baby screaming through the night and their own nightmares, they were practically zombies trying to go through the motions of the day. 

They often took turns falling asleep in class. Their grades suffered but they were too drained to care. 

At night, they lay awake listening to the sounds of a baby in distress and a frantic mother and father trying to soothe her. 

It was to those sounds, that Percy let his mind drift. His sleepiness reminded him of Gaia. 

Mother Earth, whenever she spoke, sounded like they do now. She was sleeping now. 

Only took a war to put her there. A war that landed him and Annabeth in Tartarus.

Tartarus. So many horrible things happened there.  _ He’d done _ horrible things there. 

His brain may have been addled by fumes and fire but he couldn’t take it back. 

The poison he’d controlled.

The blood and tears he’d used to choke Akhlys. 

To  _ kill  _ her. 

The fear. 

Annabeth’s fear. 

Fear of  _ him _ . 

He woke in a cold sweat. 

Annabeth was already awake beside him. Ready to comfort him. 

He could remember her voice from back then. The terror in it as she begged him to stop.

“Hey, Percy, it’s okay. You’re with me. We’re both alright.” She didn’t sound like that now. She sounded reassuring. Confident even, as she wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Annabeth?” he whispered. Tears and snot were streaming down his face but she didn’t care.  _ She loved him. _

His voice sounded broken as he asked, “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

She squeezed him even tighter. 

“No Percy. I’m not afraid of you.” He knew that she could tell why he asked. “We lived through a nightmare and that’s all that was. That wasn’t us down there. You didn’t kill her. I love you. I’m not afraid of you, Seaweed Brain.”

He nodded into her shoulder but didn’t let go. He continued to cry as he ran her words through his head on repeat. 

_ I didn’t kill her. I stopped. She loves me. She isn’t scared of me. We’re okay. We’re out. We’re safe. _

He continued like this until Annabeth lowered them both back down to the bed. He wasn’t sure if either of them went back to sleep before school the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always let me know what you thought, even if it's just a suggestion! I will for sure be posting once a week. Probably going to keep it to Saturday's for now. I've built up a bit of a buffer to fall back on if I get lazy, although I don't see that happening soon. This story has me really excited! Things start to pick up a bit in the next chapter and I can't tell you how anxious I am to post it. Love you all! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously these weeks are going by so slow. I just want to post more but I need the buffer :(  
> Anyway, enjoy!

Maybe it was just bad luck. Or maybe they could tell how out of it the half-bloods were. Whatever it was, the monsters decided then to show up.

It was at lunch, of all times, that Noah’s eyes went a bit wide and pointed out the strange figure that seemed to be watching them from the empty hallway.

Percy and Annabeth woke up more than they have in a while and gave each other looks. It was a silent conversation on whether or not they should go check it out now or wait until it either attacked or they were out of the school.

They weren’t even sure what it was. If they could make it through the whole school day, it would be worth it to avoid drawing attention to themselves. So with a slight shake of their heads, they turned back to the group.

Their change in behavior didn’t go unnoticed. Again, James didn’t ask, but Noah was eyeing them suspiciously. Eyes darting from the person in the hall to his friends whose eyes were locked to each others. 

When they finally turned back to the group, there was a forced calm about them. But they seemed  _ awake _ . Whoever that was, their presence had worried the two of them. With their backgrounds, he felt it was a safe assumption for him to be worried too.

All through lunch, Noah couldn’t shake the feeling that the person was looking directly at  _ him _ . When he said this out loud, Percy and Annabeth seemed very startled.

“Are you sure? I don’t think they’re even looking in this direction. We can’t see who they’re looking at.” There was an edge to Percy’s voice that told Noah that he was definitely on guard about the whole thing.

He agreed nonetheless, but the feeling didn’t go away.

When the feeling followed him to his next class, his unease grew. He kept looking around like a paranoid bat, but he never saw anything.

When he walked out of his classroom to go to the next, he was startled to see Percy and Annabeth both waiting for him.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked casually.

“Nothing, just thought we’d walk you to your next class.” Annabeth smiled at him.

“O-kaaay.” This was getting weird. Seriously who was that?

They walked in silence. He felt like his friends had turned into personal bodyguards. When they reached the class, they told him what class they would be in if he needed anything. 

It was about halfway through the period that he realized he shouldn’t have drunk all those Capri suns at lunch. 

He nervously made his way to the bathroom, deciding to get back to class as quickly as he could as the invisible eyes on him grew stronger.

He made it to the bathroom and kept his eyes on the door until it was fully closed. 

He looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were wide so he scrunched them up with the rest of his face. 

“Be real man.” he told himself, “You’re just going crazy. There’s nothing watching you.”

He splashed his face before moving to head back to his class.

Then everything went black.

***

Percy and Annabeth waited again outside Noah’s classroom. They had decided to skip class and do rounds around the school. Checking each of the classrooms their friends occupied.

As soon as Noah had mentioned feeling singled out, they’d agreed to keep an eye out for him. 

When the bell rang, they watched as all the students filed out. When no Noah came, Percy peaked his head in the door. No Noah.

“Um, sir? Do you know where Noah went?” he asked the teacher.

“He went to the bathroom and skipped the rest of my class. If you find him, tell him he’s getting detention with me next week.”

Not good. Not good at all. They left and Percy went to go check the nearest boy’s bathroom. First glance gave nothing, but after looking in the stalls, he found a map hung on the door. He grabbed it and took it out to Annabeth who was waiting for him.

The bell to begin class had already rung so the halls were empty again as they looked over the paper in his hands.

“There.” she said almost as soon as he opened it. She pointed to a spot in the far corner. It was covered in a bloody fingerprint. Very subtle. At least they knew it was for them. Or at least they were pretty sure. Who else would do something like this?

He only had a moment to hope that it wasn’t Noah’s blood before they were off to the woods just outside of town. 

They weren’t stupid. They knew it was a trap. But the bait was just the right thing to get them to not care. Annabeth pulled out a golden drachma once they were outside and out of sight. She also pulled out a bottle of water from her bag and handed it to Percy.

“Create a mist. We’re calling Nico.”

Once they’d prayed to Iris, the rainbow they’d created shimmered and through it, they could see Nico sitting on the roof of his cabin with Will leaning against him.

Percy felt a little bad ruining their moment but got over it quick enough.

“Nico!” Both of them jumped and nearly lost their balance as they caught sight of Percy and Annabeth.

“Percy?” His eyes scrunched in worry. “What’s wrong?”

They explained their situation. “We need backup.” They finished.

Nico nodded and looked at Will apologetically. 

“I’m coming with you.” Will told him a bit angry that Nico would dare even  _ think _ about leaving him out of this. 

Nico, thankfully, caught on early that he meant it and wouldn’t hear anything else.

“We’ll meet you at the edge of the woods in a couple minutes.”

The iris message cut off. 

When they’d gotten there, Nico and Will were already waiting. Will had his Emergency Medic bag in his hands. 

“I brought some extra things just in case your friend is injured. He’s going to be pretty shaken up either way so we should hurry.”

They walked through the woods for some time. Percy and Annabeth taking the lead. Nico moving through the shadows and Will following further back. 

They all had their weapons drawn.

A scream rang through the air.  _ Noah _ . Oh, gods where was he? The sound seemed to come from everywhere at once, there was no way of knowing what direction it came from.

Percy started running. He didn’t know where he was going but he had to move fast. He had to find Noah. This was his fault. If he’d stayed outside his classroom instead of doing rounds, this wouldn’t have happened. 

Maybe he shouldn’t have tried to make friends in the first place. He’s dangerous. One of the most powerful demigods out there. Monsters can smell him for miles.

He stopped right before he reached a clearing ahead.

Noah was there, on the ground, staring at something out of Percy’s sight.

He looked like he’d fallen backward and was continuing to scoot further away from whatever it was he was seeing. Blood was running from his nose and his face looked scraped up.

With a breath Percy ran in front of the boy, Riptide held out in front of him as he faced whatever danger was in front of him.

The first thing he noticed was her teeth. They were sharp and separated by more space than what could be considered normal. They fit strangely in her mouth. And they weren’t all the same size.

Her mouth twisted into a strange smile when she saw him.

“So you’ve finally decided to join us, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon.”

“Annabeth, get Noah out of here.” he said without turning around.

The creature’s smile grew wider as her green eyes followed what was happening behind him. He noticed that her pupils were slitted like a reptile.

“Who are you?” he asked, trying to get her attention back on him.

It didn’t seem possible before, but her smile grew wider.

“Why Percy,” she said in an almost motherly tone, “You should know me. After all, I’m the cause for so many of your problems .”

Percy squinted at her, trying to figure out if he’d met her before. He didn’t think so, but then again, he’d fought a lot of monsters.

“I am Lamia. Daughter of Hecate.”

That didn’t mean anything to Percy. Except for the Hecate part. If she could use magic that would make killing her a lot harder.

Her smile grew more mischievous. “I’m the reason monsters always find you.”

“What?” he didn’t mean to say it out loud but he was shocked. He thought that was how it always was. Monsters were always able to sense half-bloods. 

“A very long time ago, Zeus took a liking to me. As you can imagine, Hera was not a fan. She killed all of my children and turned me into  _ this _ . So, I thought to myself, how do I make her suffer as I have suffered? How will she ever understand the pain she’s put me through? And then, an idea! I, myself cannot kill all of her children, but what about everything else out there? There are a lot more monsters out there than just me. The spell was more simple than I could’ve hoped. Of course, I’ve done my share as well. Over the years, I’ve grown a taste for human meat. Children especially, have quite a nice flavor.”

Percy stood, staring at the grotesque woman. He felt sick, but he wanted to stall for as long as possible so the other’s had more time to get Noah out and make sure he was safe.

“Why are you telling me this?” 

She disappeared and something whispered in his ear.

“I like to play with my food.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER! Just one week till the next chapter. It's already written so I promise it won't be late. But on another note. The Lamia chick is actually from Greek mythology. Everything I added about her was researched. After her kids died, she legit started eating children. She's definitely got a few screws loose. I hope you enjoyed! More next week and as always feel free to leave a comment about what you thought :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for that last cliffhanger! But not really. I think I'm channeling Rick Riordan right now. Anyways, enjoy!

“What was that thing?” They’d just made it out of the woods which seemed to clear Noah’s head if even just a little bit.

“What did you see?” Will asked him. He already had his bag open and was pulling out various bandages and other instruments.

“There was a woman. Her face… her eyes were yellow. They didn’t look human. And her teeth. And hands. Claws. And Percy. He had a sword.”

Will pulled Nico to the side while Noah stared off into the trees.

“Can he see through the mist?”

“I guess so. He saw Percy’s sword. And whatever else that was. I guess we could test it just to make sure.” Nico suggested.

“No, I think he’s gone through enough today,” he said with a glance. “I think I’ve got it from here. You should go back to help Percy and Annabeth. I’ll be here when you get back.” 

Will gave a weak smile before pulling the other boy into a hug. Their lips met briefly before Nico turned to go.

“Nico.” Will stopped him. “Come back safely.”

With a nod and a small smile, he disappeared.

Will turned back to Noah and continued his treatment of the minor wounds on his face and arms.

“Do you have a phone?” he asked. 

After dialing the number, he held the speaker to his ear.

“Hello?” came a voice from the other end.

“Sally? I need your help.”

***

As soon as Annabeth dropped Noah off with Nico and Will, she rushed back to find Percy. The only problem was, he wasn’t there. 

The clearing was empty and there was no sign that anyone had been there. 

“Percy?” she called.

A rustling off to the side got her attention. She quickly moved out of the way as an arrow rushed towards her. A figure emerged from the bushes she’d been staring at, it seemed to grow bigger and bigger until it was towering over her. 

_ Manticore. _ Annabeth remembered clearly the last time she faced a manticore. She’d ended up being captured and forced to hold the sky. She wouldn’t lose this time.

With no warning, she rushed forward with her dagger. The creature moved easily and made a strike of his own. 

Annabeth jumped away just in time, but something felt off. She wasn’t sure what it was, but this creature felt different. There wasn’t time to dwell on it though, as he shot more spikes straight for her.

“Where’s Percy?” she asked.

The manticore smiled. 

“I wouldn’t know, haven’t seen him.”

They continued to fight, neither one getting a solid hit until Annabeth finally managed to get close enough. She swept her dagger through his side. She was sure she did, but her hand felt like it swished through air. And the manticore didn’t seem to be injured.

She quickly backed up before he could attack her again. Several spikes zipped towards her, but all missed.

The gears in Annabeth’s mind were working full time as she tried to figure out what she was missing. They’d been fighting for ten minutes at least, and neither had made a mark on the other. 

That’s when she did something that only Percy would have been stupid enough to do. She lowered her weapon and approached the monster.

“You’re not real are you?” she swept her hand through the air where it should’ve met skin and the manticore disappeared.

“Okay then.” 

She’d wasted enough time fighting that thing. She had to find Percy. 

***

Nico had been wandering for a while. He hadn’t seen anything, but he’d heard screams.

They came from everywhere at once, just like Noah’s had. He couldn’t figure out what to do. He couldn’t find Percy or Annabeth, and he wasn’t sure who was screaming so intensely. It was driving him insane.

Then, as quickly as they started, the screams stopped and were replaced by whispers. The wind carried his name and other unintelligible things. Covering his ears only seemed to increase the volume. 

When he couldn’t take it anymore, he shadow traveled back to Will.

He was surprised to be met with not only Noah and Will, but Paul as well.

“Nico? Are you okay? You’re back so soon? Did you find them?” Will was on him in a second, checking him over for any injuries.

“I’m fine. But something is wrong with that place. I think something was messing with me.”

Will looked a bit uneasy as he glanced back at the trees. Their friends were still in there somewhere. 

“Okay, give me a second and then I’ll go back in with you.”

He turned back to Paul, who was wrapping a blanket around a still shocked Noah. Considering the situation, Will thought Paul was handling this all quite well. He was a mortal after all and had only been introduced to reality a couple years ago. He knew Percy was in danger but after being told all they knew, he seemed to accept it and was rather quiet as he looked at the scrapes on Noah’s face.

“We’ll come back as soon as we can. I’m sorry for leaving you with him like this. I’d suggest calling his parents. Ask if he can stay the night. Percy will be able to help him more when he gets back.” 

Paul nodded and helped Noah into his car. Sally had had to stay home with the baby. She had jumped up almost immediately when Will called, but Paul knew she was still recovering, and there was no way they were bringing a baby to a potentially dangerous place. It took some convincing, but Paul managed to leave the house alone.

Now, he was bringing one of Percy’s traumatized friends home. If he’d known, when he met Sally, that he’d be caught up in this mess, he’s sure he would’ve had second thoughts about talking to her. Now though, he knew he’d do anything for her. Even if that meant fighting monsters that he couldn’t see and taking care of her son’s friends.

Especially the mortal ones who couldn’t take care of themselves. He felt a twinge of loss for Noah. Nothing would be the same for him. Unless Percy somehow managed to reverse whatever happened, Paul wouldn’t be surprised if he did. 

“Noah?” he said as he drove. “Noah, can you talk to me?” 

He looked to the passenger seat where the boy was sitting, staring at the road.

“I know things seem really scary right now,” he continued when he didn’t get a response, “but it’ll make more sense once Percy gets back. I promise. It was scary to me too. Still is. But it gets better. I’m sorry you got dragged into all of this.”

“What  _ is _ all of this?” Noah mumbled. He still had that far away look, but at least he was talking.

“You know, I’m still trying to figure that out myself. There are things that some people can see, and others like you and I can’t. Or, maybe you’re more like Sally. She can see through the mist. Have you ever seen anything you can’t explain?”

Noah finally turned towards Paul, eyes wide and slightly teary, and shook his head.

“Never.”

***

Nico and Will were surrounded by screams and darkness. Whenever they tried to cover their ears, the whispers took over, which was somehow worse. They could barely see or hear each other, so they kept their hands intertwined and kept moving.

Nico was no stranger to the dark, but this seemed weird. Almost artificial. Artificial darkness, that’s a new one. He just couldn’t shake off the feeling that everything they were experiencing was just an illusion. 

“Nico, what is that?” Will’s voice was low and urgent.

That’s when he noticed that the screams had died down. 

“I still can’t see anything.”

The hand in his grew tighter.

Will’s voice dropped down to a quieter whisper as he said, “I think it’s staring at us.”

Will started guiding them slowly backward. Then he swung Nico around so they were facing the other direction and yelled “RUN!”

The only thing Nico had to go on to see was the grip of Will’s hand guiding him. He stumbled often but Will kept him from falling. He could hear whatever it was chasing them.

Will suddenly pushed him to the side. Their hands disconnected and Nico crashed into the ground.

He was about to get back up when his sight returned and he lost his balance and fell down again. He looked up while his eyes adjusted and could just make out Will shooting his arrows.

He turned his head a bit further and saw the thing that was chasing him. It was huge. The creature looked a bit like blackjack, in the sense that it was a black horse, except it was the size of an elephant, and had horns sticking out of its forehead. Three of them.

All of the arrows Will shot seemed to disappear once reaching its destination. They were running out of time. The creature was going to hit them soon. They needed a plan, there just wasn’t enough time.

The monster was headed straight for Will. Nico crouched off to the side. Waiting for the right moment. Just before it rammed a stubborn Will with its three horns, Nico dashed out and shoved him out of the way. 

He expected pain. Or to be dead. But he looked up and there was nothing there. Letting out a heavy breath, he turned to Will who was now sitting upon the forest floor.

“NICO DI ANGELO IF YOU EVER TRY ANYTHING LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN SO HELP ME I’LL SEND YOU TO THE UNDERWORLD FOR GOOD!” Will pushed himself up and stormed over to Nico, who was still trying to figure out what had happened. 

When he was close enough, he grabbed Nico and wrapped him in a tight hug, which Nico quickly returned. 

“You’re the idiot,” Nico mumbled into Will’s shoulder, “not moving out of the way.”

They stayed like that for a minute before pulling apart. Will told him that whatever it was had disappeared as soon as it hit Nico. It was like it never happened. They couldn’t even find tracks other than their own.

“Will,” Nico turned, “there’s something wrong with this place.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed!”

“No, I mean, that creature, it was just an illusion, right? But I still felt life in it. It was definitely there until it wasn’t. And this whole place, it feels like death. The feeling has been growing for a while. A lot of people have died here.”

He looked around for a second as if searching for ghosts, or maybe the thing that killed them. His eyes froze on something above Will’s head. With a certainty he wished he didn’t feel, he knew this wasn’t an illusion. He could fee the death here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The three horned horse creature in this chapter is an Odontotyrannos. Not sure how to pronounce that but it's there. I just started online summer school this week so I haven't been writing nearly as much but I still have my buffer to fall back on! I think I just started writing chapter 9 so that's pretty cool. Hope you're all doing well <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! New Chapter finally! I haven't been writing as much as I want but I still got a while to go before this story is over. I wasn't really planning on making it this long, but I guess that's what happens when you don't know where you're going with something. It just kinda carries itself till you say stop. What I'm trying to say is enjoy this chapter! It certainly won't be the last!

Percy was struggling. He’d been trying to fight Lamia for a while now, but he knew she was just toying with him. As soon as she decided she was done, he’d be dead. He already had several gashes in his shoulders and torso from Lamia’s leathery claws.

He felt a wind behind him and ducked just as a wrinkled hand swept the air where he’d been. By now, he knew it was futile, but he wasn’t going to give up. Swinging his sword around, the blade almost made contact but just as all the times before, Lamia disappeared before he could even leave a scratch. 

Shapes loomed in the corners of his vision. They distracted him from his task, and would always move with his eyes so they stayed in his peripheral. 

“Hmm. I wonder how much longer it will take for the great Perseus Jackson to fall?” 

He felt a breeze behind him and before he even knew what was happening, his face was in the dirt. Then he felt the sharp sting in his calves. He looked back and his legs were covered in blood. The wounds were much deeper than the others she’d made so far. He wasn’t sure if he could stand up.

“Percy!” Annabeth called. She had almost reached him when something appeared behind him and he fell to the ground. She didn’t stop until she was kneeling at his side, looking over his bloodied form. It was pretty bad.

“Annabeth, get out of here.” Percy stared at her with wide frightened eyes. 

“Oh, well isn’t this a surprise!” A woman stood in front of them. A smile painted over her strange sharp teeth. “I’ll probably have to save you for later, but that doesn’t mean I can’t play with you now! I think Percy was almost done playing.” She moved her bottom lip into a fake pout.

Annabeth charged at her with her dagger. The creature’s face brightened into a genuine smile before disappearing. 

“Oh, I do like you Annabeth. I hope you taste as good as I think you do.”

She struck, leaving nothing more than a light scratch on her cheek. Annabeth hadn’t even seen her coming. 

She rushed to Percy. She had to get him out of here.

There was a swirl of wind all around her. Small cuts were spreading all over her face and arms. Swatting it away did nothing, so she continued running with her hands covering her face.

“Percy. I’m going to try to get you up, okay?” The wind had stopped just as she knelt down.

“Mhmm,” Percy said. He had lost a lot of blood and it was still flowing. 

Annabeth linked her arms around his shoulder and hefted him up. He wasn’t fully conscious, and even if he was, Annabeth didn’t think he’d be walking any time soon. That left Annabeth carrying all of his weight. 

Lamia continued to leave scratches and light gashes all over both of them. She talked too, but what she said fell on deaf ears. They were too concentrated on what they were doing. Annabeth, getting them away in one piece. Percy, staying awake as much as he could.

When a dracaena jumped out from behind a tree, Annabeth stumbled and almost dropped Percy, who was draped across her back, using his arms to keep him steady. She wouldn’t be able to do anything with the extra weight, so she gently set Percy back down on the ground, worriedly looking at the alarming amount of blood he’d tracked. He desperately needed water and ambrosia.

The dracaena rushed towards them but Annabeth was ready. She lashed out with her dagger and a wound opened on the monster’s arms. The reptilian girl tumbled backward and held her bleeding form close to her. She hissed at Annabeth who still had her eyes trained on her opponent. 

At this rate, she and Percy were never going to get out of there. They’d fought two wars and survived a trip to Tartarus, and this is how they would die? In a small, meaningless battle? 

It was fast, but something from behind the dracaena caught Annabeth’s eye. It was darting between trees, trying to get closer to them.

The dracaena moved towards her again but she was slower, more cautious of the little knife in Annabeth’s hands. 

When the dracaena did nothing, Annabeth risked a look behind her to Percy. Something was hovering over him, and then they both disappeared. 

“PERCY!” Forgetting about her previous fight and the monster standing right there, she ran to where he’d been laying. There was blood there, as she’d expected, but no other indications that someone was here just a moment ago.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Grabbing the hand, she swept her leg behind her to trip whoever it was.

“Annabeth stop!” She looked around. Suddenly, the sky was much brighter, although the sun was going down, and the air was warmer. She was back on the outskirts of the forest. Will was on the ground next to her. His arms were bleeding. Exactly where she’d sliced the dracaena.

Annabeth said some very colorful words in Greek while helping him sit up. Nico was there too, she noticed. He had been right behind Will but had run off to go grab the medical supplies.

Not too far away from them, there was a body. It was Percy. Annabeth stumbled on her way to get to him. His face was covered in bloody scrapes, she assumed she had ones to match. He looked pale from blood loss. He was going to die, soon, if they didn’t stop his legs from bleeding.

“Annabeth,” She jumped. Will was standing behind her, upper arms covered in wrappings. “I need your help with this. Can you elevate his legs? Nico is going to help with bandages but we need to slow the blood flow.” 

She nodded and everyone set to work. Will guided Nico’s hands while Annabeth held Percy’s legs and watched the movement of his chest. When they finished, Nico said, “I need to get us back to his house.”

“Oh no, you don’t. You’ve been shadow traveling too much today. Taking three passengers could have you in recovery for a month!”

“Okay, I’m doing it.”

He quickly grabbed Will and Annabeth, who was still holding onto Percy’s legs, and then they were in Percy’s living room where Nico promptly collapsed. 

“Shit,” Will mumbled. 

Percy’s mom had been sitting in the living room with Noah and Paul. When she saw her son, she jumped up. 

Will interrupted her before she could say anything. “I need you to draw a bath. A cold one. It’s not the most efficient but it’ll still help Percy.”

She ran off to the bathroom, eyes wide and tears already falling to her cheeks.

They sat in silence. Percy had already been moved to the cold bath and Sally was sitting with him. Nico was sleeping in Percy and Annabeth’s bed. Paul looked to Annabeth and the scratches that covered her face and arms. He went to sit next to her with a little emergency kit in hand.

“You mind if I do this?” he asked.

“I don’t need it.”

“Please? At least let me clean up your face a bit?”

Annabeth stood up, suddenly angry. “Gods Paul I can handle a bit of blood on my face! Percy is dying in the bathtub right now and you’re worried about a tiny nick on my face? I can handle it!”

Down the hall, Estelle woke up from her nap and started crying.

Paul looked at Annabeth and gave her a slight nod as he walked towards his baby to calm her down.

Annabeth felt worse than she had in a while. One of her mortal friends had been kidnapped, her boyfriend was hurt, she’d attacked Will and now she’d lashed out at one of the nicest people she’d ever met.

Once Estelle’s crying had stopped, Annabeth walked down the hall.

“Paul?”

He looked up, still holding his baby close.

“I’m sorry.”

Paul laid Estelle back down into her crib as silently as he could. She didn’t make a peep. When he stood back up, he walked towards Annabeth and wrapped her in a tight hug. She couldn’t help it, tears ran freely down her face as she sobbed into Paul's shoulder. When Estelle woke up again, it was Annabeth who held her and rocked her back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well things are definitely starting to calm down now. I love the idea of Annabeth taking care of Estelle. I imagine it took a while before she was really comfortable holding her and stuff but that could just be me. Hope you all have a great week!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Welcome! Or welcome back if you've been following along. Enjoy the chapter :)

Noah was, understandably, traumatized. He sat in Percy’s living room while Sally put Estelle to sleep and Paul got him a glass of water. They sat in silence while he sipped on his glass until Sally came back.

“Noah,” she said, “can you tell me what happened?”

Noah took a deep breath. He started from lunch that day. When he got to the part where he blacked out, he halted. He continued, sounding much more unsure, shorter sentences that took longer to come out of his mouth.

“I woke up and there were trees everywhere. And-and I could still feel something watching me. There was a girl. She looked young. I tried to go to her but- she- when she looked at me- I- it was- It  _ hurt _ . And-and then she started to change. She told me- told me I shouldn’t be afraid. That we were waiting for someone. And then she told me to run. I did, but I tripped. And that-that’s when Percy and-and his sword and Annabeth.” Noah was visibly shaking and tears were streaming down his face. 

“Okay,” Sally said, “Thank you. Paul tells me you’ve never seen anything weird like this before?” A shake of his head confirms the question. “Okay, well there are people out there who see a lot of strange things. My son and I included. We can help you understand if that’s what you-”

Several people appeared out of nowhere. One of them collapsed immediately.

Noah was too shocked to say anything as Sally ran to the bathroom. By the time the shock wore off, everyone still in the room had settled into an anxious silence. It reminded him of a hospital waiting room. He hated the waiting room.

After a while, it was just Noah and the blond boy who’d been there outside of the woods. He couldn’t remember his name.

“You seem calm,” Noah commented.

The boy smiled at him. “I’ve seen some pretty bad injuries before. Percy will be fine. We got him back in time.”

Noah nodded to himself. “What was that thing?”

A shadow passed over the boy’s face. “Something dangerous.” He left it at that and they lapsed back into silence.

***

When Percy finally woke up, his muscles were a bit sore, but that was about it. He realized where he was a moment later. His mom was staring down at him, concerned as ever. He was still wearing his torn, bloodstained clothes.

“Hey, mom,” he said. 

She helped him sit up even though he didn’t need it. After kissing his forehead, she went to go grab him a change of clothes.

He came out of the bathroom clean and healthy. Annabeth tackled him in a fierce hug.

“Don’t you do that to me again Percy Jackson.” She’d definitely been crying.

“No promises Wise Girl.” They brought their lips together in a long, meaningful kiss before joining everyone else in the living room. 

Everyone but Nico was waiting for him, but his eyes caught on Noah’s. Heavy guilt settled in the pit of his stomach. He’d failed to protect him. To keep him out of danger. 

Noah must’ve seen the weight in Percy’s eyes because he offered a smile and a simple “Hey man.” in greeting.

Percy couldn’t help but smile back in his own sad way and responded with his own, “Hey.”

“Soooo,” Noah started up again. Percy could tell that he was still nervous and scared, but he was trying. “Crazy day, am I right?”

Percy gave a low chuckle as he sat down next to his friend. “You could say that. How are you, man?”

“Oh you know, I’m alright. Gonna take more than a demon chick to take me down.” His voice was tight as he talked. He was trying really hard to keep it together.

“Have you called your mom yet? Maybe let her know you’re staying here for the night? If you're okay with that, I think it would be best.”

Noah nodded and excused himself to the hallway to make his phone call. 

While he was gone, Percy took the opportunity to turn to everyone in the room and find out everything they knew about what had happened. Sally explained everything Noah had said to her and Will told him everything else that needed filling in.

“There’s something else you should know Percy,” Will started, “While we were out there, Nico and I saw something.” Noah returned before he could finish. They silently agreed to address whatever he’d been about to say later in a more private setting. 

“Hey, can you do something for me?” Percy asked, turning his attention to the boy still standing halfway in the hall. When Noah nodded, he took out his pen and uncapped it to show its true form. “What do you see?”

Noah was quiet for a moment before answering, “Your pen.” He sounded unsure though, so Percy decided to prod a little more.

“Nothing else?

Noah looked him in the eyes, “I can’t tell. It’s like my brain is hiding things from me. I can almost see a shadow of something bigger. But it’s a pen.”

Percy sighed. “I think Lamia removed the mist from your eyes while you were with her. She’s a daughter of Hecate so she’d definitely be able to if she wanted.”

“You know who it was?” Noah straightened.

“I haven’t met her before,” he turned his attention to the demigods in the room, “but she told me she’s the reason monsters can track us. She’s powerful. She could’ve killed me whenever she felt like it and I couldn’t have done anything.” He left out the bit about her wanting to eat him. “Noah, if you want, I can make you forget this ever happened. I’m not as good at manipulating the mist as Thalia is, but if we do it now, it’ll work a lot better.”

He looked to Noah, waiting for an answer. It took him a minute to process the possibility of erasing the last few hours, but finally, he shook his head.

“I don’t want to forget.”

Some of them looked like they wanted to try to persuade him otherwise but it was enough for Percy. They seemed to sense that this was a decision that couldn’t be changed, so Annabeth directed the conversation elsewhere.

“Do you think she’ll try again?” she asked. Percy nodded grimly.

“Guys,” Will chimed in, “We should talk about this later. For now, we all need to rest. Mr. and Mrs. Blofis, would it be alright if me and Nico stay the night as well?”

“Of course, Will. You two are always welcome.” Sally smiled lovingly, if not a little sad. These children had gone through so much. It hurt her heart to think about.

Will moved Nico to the living room where they got settled in a pile of blankets on the floor. He had insisted that Noah take the sofa. 

It was strange. With the memories from today, sleeping in a foreign place should’ve been a lot harder for Noah, but the presence of the strangers seemed to calm him more than anything else. Before he even knew it, he had fallen into a restless sleep.

When he woke up, it was to screaming. He looked around and saw Will sitting up as well, head turning in the direction of the noise. Once his brain had finally caught up, the alarm in Will’s eyes and muscles was replaced by mourn and something akin to defeat. 

He turned to Noah. “It’s okay,” he said. “She’s just having a nightmare.” He laid back down, although his eyes stayed open.

Then it clicked and his ears tuned in more to what was behind Annabeth’s screams. Percy was talking. He couldn’t hear what was said, but after a while, everything got quiet again except the sound of a baby’s crying voice.

After a couple minutes, Percy walked as quietly as he could out of his room and towards his mom’s. After a quiet exchange, he walked back out again, carrying his crying sister with him to his room. 

He and Annabeth were going to be awake either way, and Estelle’s presence was always welcome, no matter how distressed she was. She gave the two of them something hopeful to focus on. Something to smile about.

While Noah didn’t know all of that, he did have a much greater appreciation for his two strangest friends. The whole day had been a testament to their strength, inward, and outward. With a deep shudder, he knew that whatever had made Annabeth scream like that had to be something truly horrible. With that thought in mind, he lay back down, eyes open just like Will’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written anything all week. Summer school has been draining me. I was not built for learning online. But I'll still have a chapter for you next week so stay tuned <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy :)

The next morning, Percy and Annabeth woke up early. Estelle was sleeping between them as if she were their child instead of Sally and Paul’s. Percy smiled at the sentiment.

They moved as quietly as they could without jostling the bed too much and left the room to go check on their friends. Will woke up when Percy tripped on the carpet but the other two stayed sound asleep.

“Sorry! You can go back to sleep.” Percy whispered.

Will yawned but shook his head. “No, I’m okay. How are you healing?” He got up and crossed the room to inspect Percy’s legs.

“Like brand new. Got a few new scars but when don’t I?”

Will nodded again, seemingly satisfied. 

“I need to talk to you guys. I didn’t want to say anything in front of your friend.”

Annabeth nodded and led them over to the table. They left all the lights off so no one would be disturbed, but it made the atmosphere a lot more daunting. Percy was reminded of the war counsels he’d been to around the ping pong table.

“We need to go back to the forest,” he started, “Before me and Nico found you guys, some weird things were happening. Illusions.”

“Same thing happened to me,” Annabeth stated. “There was a manticore, but as soon as I hit it, it disappeared. And, well, I attacked you because I thought you were a dracaena.”

“That’s the thing. All of those were illusions. What Nico and I saw… it was real.”

“What did you see?” Percy asked.

Will looked him right in the eyes. “We looked up, and bodies were hanging in the trees. Some of them looked like they’d been there a lot longer than others. They all had something carved into them. It was some kind of symbol. I need to do some more research to figure out exactly what it was but I need to go back so I know exactly what it looks like.”

“Will, do you realize how dangerous that would be? We barely escaped the first time. And I don’t know about you, but in my experience, finding a specific spot in the woods can be pretty difficult. Especially when it’s not somewhere we know super well. This isn’t Capture the Flag.”

“Just think about it, okay? We need to know what we’re up against here. That thing singled you out. You said it yourself that you think she’ll try again.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to walk right up to her doorstep. I’ve done that too many times and it never goes well.” Percy argued.

They all froze when they heard a creak from down the hall. When they saw it was just Sally, they relaxed. She walked over when she saw them all sitting there.

“Hey, is Estelle still sleeping?” She kept her voice low to keep from disturbing the other’s who weren’t awake yet.

“Yeah, like a baby,” Annabeth whispered back.

“So what are you all doing? Should I start breakfast?”

“I think that’s a good idea. Give us an excuse to wake everyone else up.” Percy said. He didn’t say anything about what they had been talking about. He didn’t want his mom to worry any more than she already was.

Twenty minutes later, the food was being set on the table and Percy went to go wake up Noah.

“Hey, we’re gonna skip school today. I’ve already taken care of it so no one will know we were gone. Breakfast is ready though, so you should get up before it’s all gone.”

Noah, having just woken up, took a minute to process everything before he groggily made his way to the table. Everyone else was already serving up their plates with eggs and pancakes. Even Nico was there, slightly nodding off while Will filled his plate.

He quickly followed suit and grabbed a spot to load his plate.

It wasn’t hard to feel the tension in the room.

“Soooo, what’s happening?” he asked.

Percy looked at him. “We’ll go back to school tomorrow if you’re okay with it. But you can’t tell anyone what’s happened. They all think we were at school all day yesterday and they’ll think the same today. You can always talk to one of us though. If you want to.”

“How does that work? You can just make people think things that aren’t real?”

“Remember yesterday when we were talking about the mist?” Noah shook his head. “Okay well, there’s this thing called Mist that covers mortals’ eyes so they can’t see the really crazy things happening all around them.”

“Wait wait wait hold up. Mortals? Some people  _ aren’t  _ mortal? How do you know any of this anyway? Does that mean  _ you _ can see through this mist? And would that mean-” His eyes widened. “Percy. Bro. Be honest with me. Are you mortal?”

Percy hesitated which seemed to be answer enough for Noah.

“DUDE YOU’RE NOT FUCKING MORTAL WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!”

“NOAH CALM DOWN FOR A SECOND SO I CAN EXPLAIN!”

Noah looked at him. And then down at his food which he then shoved into his mouth, and up at Percy again.

“Okay. I am mortal. But only partially. We call it being a half-blood. One human parent. One not.”

“So what’s the other one? Would it be your dad? Or is Sally your non-human parent?” he eyed her suspiciously.

Instead of answering the question, he said, “You know how James is really into Greek mythology?” Noah nodded.

“He wears that Poseidon ring all the time.”

“Exactly, which is kind of weird because he’s my dad.”

A moment of silence where Noah seemed to be thinking very hard. “James…?”

Percy busted out laughing. “No! No, not James. I’m talking about Poseidon. He's my dad. But that ring doesn’t look much like him. And I’ve only seen him with a tale once when I went to visit him in his palace. But it was under siege at the moment, so it wasn’t a super long visit.”

Noah was staring at Percy like he was crazy.

“And Annabeth here, her mom is Athena. Will’s dad is Apollo. And Nico’s dad is Hades.”

Noah’s expression didn’t change.

Annabeth leaned over and whispered in Percy’s ear. “I think he needs a minute. Just eat your food for a minute Seaweed Brain.”

It was a bit unnerving, having someone stare at him like that while chewing his food, but he did his best to ignore it. It was several minutes before anyone spoke. The air was filled with the sounds of people eating.

“So, your dad is Poseidon?” 

“Yes.” 

“What does that make you?”

“A Demigod.”

“You’re half god?”

“Yes.”

“Does that mean you live longer?”

“No, we usually live a lot shorter.”

“Why?”

“Monsters can smell us. They don’t like us, so they try to kill us.”

That’s how the rest of breakfast went. Noah asked question after question while Percy tried to answer as quickly and efficiently as he could. The two of them sat there long after everyone else moved to the living room, but Percy didn’t mind. Part of him felt relieved that Noah knew. They’d grown pretty close, but this was something that he’d always planned on keeping hidden, for obvious reasons. But now that he’d been kidnapped by a monster, Percy didn’t have to worry as much. About that part. The monster kidnap thing was still pretty concerning.

Once Noah had learned all he could, they joined the others in the living room. 

“Will and Nico went back to camp to talk to Chiron,” Annabeth said before either of them even had the chance to ask. 

For a while, all they did was watch baby Estelle. Noah got the chance to hold her for the first time. He hadn’t held many children before, it was terrifying, but he had to admit it was nice.

Even with all the answers he’d gotten, he still had a hard time wrapping his brain around everything. His friends were half  _ god _ for christ’s sake! He remembered they’d had a couple conversations with James about Greek mythology. James loves that stuff. But Percy always looked a bit uncomfortable. Guess he knew why now.

With Estelle in his arms, he put words in his mind to something he already knew he’d decided. Noah would support his friends as much as he could. He wouldn’t tell anyone, but they needed as much help as they could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so close to finishing summer school! I have four days left and then I can get back to writing more often. I would not have survived without my buffer. This month has been so long! Hope you're all doing well and if not then I'm sorry. I'll send you some positive energy :) See you all next week!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is hella short. I ran out of pre-written chapters and I was still drowning in school work so I pumped this out. I still like it though and I hope you do too!

How did Percy and Annabeth act like nothing had happened? Noah couldn’t seem to stop his head from swiveling like a stool every time he heard a loud noise. Jumping when something unexpected happened. His other friends were starting to look at him weirdly.

There were just so many  _ people _ all around him. Who’s to say one of them wasn’t like that girl in the forest who can change form in a second. Or whatever had taken him there, because something told him they were separate beings.

He swears he almost had a heart attack when someone touched his shoulder, but when the panic cleared from his vision, he could see it was just Percy.

“Are you sure you want to be here, man? We can leave if you want. I think-”

“No. No, I’m good. I can do this. It’s just school, right?” Percy gave him a sympathetic smile and nodded.

“You know my schedule and where I’ll be, so don’t be afraid to come if you need to. And I know we said you’d be going home today, but you can stay with us for however long you want to. I know sleeping-wise it isn’t the best, but if it makes you feel safer, we’re here.”

Noah didn’t trust his voice to respond so he just nodded. His friends, who he’d only met a few months ago, were… he didn’t have words to describe them. Crazy? Scary? Demon-slaying kickass warlords? Maybe not the warlords bit but damn. They were also some of the nicest people he’d ever met. Awesome. In all senses of the word. That’s what they were. 

He’d made it all the way to lunch without any major problems. Nothing that drew attention to himself, and no danger.

“Yo Noah, you want my Capri sun?” James asked.

James may not have known what was going on, but he could always tell when Noah was upset, and how to help.

For the two of them, the Capri sun was a sacred object. Only given away when it was truly needed somewhere else. It’d been used to make up for fights, help ease the stress from an upcoming test, and comfort during hard times, even when the other didn’t know why.

Noah smiled. “Toss it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week's chapter should have more going on. I finished summer school so I have a lot more free time to write! Also, Happy 4th of July!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure if I was going to finish this chapter in time, but lo and behold, here it is!

“Dude, I’m worried about you.”

Noah turned to see James looking down at him. “What? Why-why would you be worried?”

“You’re agitated,” he said as he sat down on the couch next to Noah, “you jump at little noises and act like something is watching you all the time. Even in your own house. You know you can talk to me. What happened?”

Noah hadn’t planned on this when he’d invited James over, but he couldn’t say he hadn’t been hoping it would happen. He just didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t- nothing happened.” His heart sunk as the words came out.

James looked at him, eyebrows furrowed, and Noah had to look away.

“Noah. You don’t  _ have _ to tell me. But you know that you  _ can _ , right?”

Noah shook his head. He looked back at his best friend. “I  _ can’t _ .”

James looked hurt. The guilt swelled in Noah’s stomach, he could feel tears prickling at his eyes. He wanted James to know so bad, but he’d promised Percy and Annabeth, and he didn’t want to put James in any danger.

“Is there anything you  _ can  _ tell me?” It wasn’t accusatory. He said it like he was just searching for answers, which he was. He just wanted to know why his best friend was hurting.

Noah thought for a minute. “Last week,” he said, “you remember that day I left early?” James nodded. “Well… something happened. I can’t tell you what. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

“Do Percy and Annabeth know?” 

Noah nodded in surprise. “How-”

“They’ve been very… hover-y over you. Figured they knew why you were acting so weird.” he said with a shrug.

“Yeah. They were there. They… helped me. Let me stay at their place for a couple days while I calmed down.”

The Jackson-Blofis house was now the only place where he actually felt safe. Even in his own house, he worried he couldn’t tell what was real and what was an illusion. A trick of the mist, as they put it. But with Percy and Annabeth, he didn’t have to worry as much.

“Tell me about Greek mythology,” he said suddenly.

The concerned look was swept off James' face by surprise. He looked curious but seemed to know that he wouldn’t get an answer if he asked. “Um, okay.”

Noah wasn’t sure if knowing what’s out there would help him or make him worse.

***

Annabeth was doing homework when there was a knock at the door. Percy woke from his nap on the couch and immediately sat up, looking around.

“Just the door, Percy. I got it.” He nodded but didn’t lay back down.

A moment later, Annabeth walked back in with Nico and Will trailing behind her. 

“We need to talk,” Nico started.

Annabeth motioned them to the chairs across from Percy while she took a seat next to him. “What’s up?”

“We’ve been investigating your Lamia situation,” Will said with a heavy sigh,” It’s a lot more complicated than it looks. There’s definitely some kind of enchantment around the forest. We still don’t know if it’s her using the magic or something else. We also don’t think it’s possible to get out without shadow travel. Something is keeping us from finding our way out. Without Nico, there’s no way we would’ve made it out of there before.”

“That can’t be right.” Annabeth tilted her head in thought. “Maybe it’s… no that can’t be right either.” She continued mumbling to herself while everyone waited for her to say what was on her mind. 

“Noah and I got out just fine,” she finally said, “Maybe it’s because his eyes were temporarily free of the mist? It could be like the labyrinth…” she let that thought hang in the air.

“Should we ask Rachel to go?” Percy asked, “I don’t think she’d be able to get out of school just to walk through a forest with us, but it’s worth a shot.”

“There’s more than that,” Nico said, he tilted his head forward and shadows fell over his already dark eyes. Percy wondered if he did that on purpose. “You know the bodies that we were telling you about before? We got a closer look at them. They were all positioned to make a symbol. We’re still working on what it is, but it looks like this.” He pulled a slightly crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it in front of them.

On it was a rough drawing of some lines that obviously formed some kind of symbol. Of what, though, Percy had no idea. Annabeth, on the other hand, perked up when she saw it. 

“I’d need to find some more information just to make sure, but I think it’s a warding symbol. There’s something strange about it though that I can’t put my finger on.”

“Wait, so, like to keep stuff out?” Percy asked.

“Or in,” Will added, suddenly catching on to what Annabeth had said.

Annabeth’s eyes got wide. “Lamia could be trapped in the forest. But then what…”

“What kidnapped Will?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just got my first job so finding a good writing schedule either just got a lot easier or a lot harder. I'm hoping that the fact that I have more of a schedule now will help me get the rest of my shit together but I guess we'll find out. Wish me luck! Also let me know what you thought about the chapter! If all goes well, I'm planning on finishing the story by the end of the month :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...hello again...  
> What have I been doing? You might be wondering. Well, I'll do a reenactment for you.
> 
> {ME}- Boy oh boy looks like another week down! I've been doing so well posting! It's so good to build trust with my readers and write a story that is both something I love and something other people seem to be enjoying!  
> {BRAIN}- Yeah you have been doing good! You deserve a nap.  
> {ME}- Yeah, but I really should write some today. Don't want to wait till last minute, you know?  
> {BRAIN}- Take a nap.  
> {ME}- O-okay...
> 
> {ME}- It's getting awfully close to that deadline... we should really work on it if we want to continue our good streak.  
> {BRAIN}- No.  
> {ME}- Oh. Um. Okay... Are we gonna do it later then?  
> {BRAIN}- ...yeeaaaahhhh  
> {ME}- ...  
> {ME}- Are we at least going to tell them we're missing this week?  
> {BRAIN}- Pff why? It's only one week, I'm sure they can deal.  
> {ME}- ...ok...
> 
> [This continued for several weeks]
> 
> In conclusion, I'M SO SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU FOR SO LONG BUT I'M BACK NOW! I think I'm going to be posting once every 2 weeks just cause my schedule just got REAL crazy but I have new motivation to be writing and I'm determined to finish this story. I love you all and thank you so much for even clicking on my work. I appreciate you all so frick-frackin much.

Annabeth had spent all her free time trying to find the exact shape that had been used in the forest. It was a couple weeks before she finally found what she was looking for. 

“Whoever cast the enchantment had to be powerful. It works through a certain area to keep everything in it,  _ in _ . Except this part here,” she pointed at one corner of the paper where there were several strange swirls, “which works to repel mortals. That’s why I could get out when I was with Noah. The forest didn’t want him there in the first place so it was easy to escape.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that if I went back with one of you guys, you’d be able to get out?” Noah asked. They decided to include him after he’d begged and guilted his way in.

“Hell no.” Percy glared at him. “We’ve put you in enough danger as it is. This is our fight not yours.” His face fell as he added, “We should’ve known better than to think we could actually make it through the year without something like this happening. I’m sorry, Noah.”

Noah was too surprised to think before he opened his mouth. “Is that why you haven’t lasted longer than a year at any school?” That probably wasn’t the right thing to say. Oops. But instead of getting mad, Percy just gave him a small smile.

“And here I thought James was the smart one. But yeah, between killing demon teachers and blowing up gymnasiums, I don’t think I ever really stood a chance.”

Noah didn’t have a response to that. 

“To be fair though, I did last a year and a half at Goode. Which I still find kind of crazy considering I started the year off with killing a cheerleader and setting the band room on fire. Thank the gods for the mist.”

“Why did you get expelled from there?” Did he really want to know? The answers he got were already kind of scaring him, but the curiosity... it was going to eat him alive. How did his friend live such a crazy life?

“Hera kidnapped me and put me into a six month sleep before wiping my memories and giving me to a Roman camp to stop the end of the world.” 

Noah thought it was a joke,  _ wanted _ it to be a joke. But the serious expression on Percy’s face, and Annabeth’s, told him otherwise. All of his brain waves came to a halt as he tried to process the information.

“As much as I love sharing, we’ve gotten kind of off topic.” Nico reminded them. Noah had forgotten he was even there.

“Right. Sorry about that.” Percy said. “So I did get in contact with Rachel. There’s no way she’d be able to make it here before the school year ends. We’ll just have to rely on Nico to get us out.”

Will, just as before, looked a bit put out at that statement but didn’t say anything. He knew there was no other option.”

“Or you could take me with you.”

“We told you already.  _ No _ . It’s too dangerous.”

“I’ve been practicing self defense! I can take care of myself.”

“ _ Beginner _ self defense against  _ mortals _ . We’re dealing with something completely different. You’d  _ die  _ if we let you come with us.” Percy’s words were coming out harsher than he meant them to, but so what? He’d had enough friends die because he made a wrong decision, or wasn’t strong enough, or because  _ they  _ were too ready to sacrifice themselves to save everyone else. He couldn’t let that happen again. Especially not to someone who has the possibility of a long  _ normal  _ life ahead of them. 

It was then, Percy and Noah staring each other down, that a quick knock on the door interrupted before it swung open.

“Ava!” Annabeth jumped up. “What are you doing here?”

Ava’s eyes swept across the room as she went to wrap Annabeth in a light hug. “Oh just thought I’d say hi to Estelle for a bit. She here?” She gave Nico and Will a sideways glance.

“No, her and Sally went to the park for a bit. You can come back later if you want?”

Ava looked deep into Annabeth’s eyes. She seemed to be examining her like an x-ray. A large smile appeared on her face as if it had been there the whole time. 

“Don’t be silly Anny. Introduce me to your friends! I see Noah has already gotten acquainted.” She then sat herself down on the footrest next to Noah and smiled up at him. “Plus you’ve been so absorbed in whatever it is you’re studying right now. I feel like we haven’t had the chance to talk in forever!”

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Even Percy has trouble talking to me when I get like that. But-”

“It’s okay Annabeth.” Will said. He leaned forward and stretched his hand out for Ava to shake. “I’m Will. And this is my boyfriend, Nico.” Nico gave a little wave in her direction. 

“I’m Ava! And I’ll say now that I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you. Seriously, they tell me nothing! So! Will you be able to unravel a bit of the mystery for me?” She finished with that dazzling smile of hers.

Will looked like he was trying to find a suitable answer but Nico butted in.

“Sorry. Not our job to fill you in. Ask them yourselves.”

“Not more of you!” Ava groaned dramatically and fell backward so her head landed in Noah’s lap.

“Um,” Percy said gently, “more of us?”

“Yes!” She shot up into her seat again. “Secret keepers. I’m usually pretty frickin good at reading people, but you guys are impossible! All I’ve managed to figure out is that you’re hiding something. And then a couple weeks ago you let Noah in on it! Or at least part of it. Or he figured it out. And these guys over here, Will and what's-your-name, are  _ definitely _ in on it.” She shot them both an accusing glare.

“And before you get your panties all up in a twist, “she continued, “I know this is none of my business. Just thought I’d let you know the reason I’m going to be looking like a corpse pretty soon. The curiosity is eating away at me from the inside out. There’s no hope left for me!” she sighed and held her hand to her forehead in a dramatic show of distress.

Nico stood up then and with Will’s hand in his. “O-kay, this has been really great but I think it’s time for us to go. Will?” 

Will, as it was, was already being dragged halfway towards the door. He just barely managed to shout a goodbye to everyone before they were out the door.

“That was interesting.” Noah chimed in.

“I guess that’s my queue to leave as well.” Ava said as she stood. Before she closed the door behind her, she turned around and looked at Percy and Noah. “I hope you two sort out whatever you were fighting about.”

The door clicked behind her and the three people left in the room could only guess as to how she knew everything she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you all in two weeks! I'm thinking I'll post on the 6th of September and if for some reason I can't, I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU HANGING AGAIN I PROMISE!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Badabing badaboom. I did it ya'll. Next chapter is in on time! I know it's a short one again but I hope you all like it anyways. Enjoy!

“Mr. Jackson, if you could stay after class for a minute.” Mrs. Kerbopple asked.

“Great,” Percy mumbled. Their grades had steadily been getting worse and worse over the past several weeks, but as expected, Annabeth was still doing much better than him.

“I’ll wait right here.” Annabeth said while everyone else left the room.

“Ms. Chase, this conversation doesn’t concern you. You can wait outside if you please.”

Nope. Nopety nope. “That’s okay, she can stay.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion Mr. Jackson. You can tell her anything you want after we’re done.”

Alarm bells were going off like crazy in his head. His hand immediately went into his pocket and wrapped around Riptide.

_ Calm down, _ he told himself, _ Even if she is a monster, you’ve faced much worse. You can take care of her without Annabeth. You just need to  _ calm down.

He tried for a reassuring smile in her direction. “Stay close?”

“Always.” She gave the teacher a scrutinizing look before packing up her stuff and leaving the room.

Percy’s heart rate picked up.

“Percy, I understand you have a new sister at home,” A threat? “And it could be affecting your grades. You look half dead whenever you enter my classroom,” No. Percy had been half dead before, back in Tartarus with the death mist. This was nothing. He looked alive. “You need to be getting more sleep if you wish to pass my class. And Jackson, I also wanted to talk about one of the essays you turned in.”

She pulled out some papers that he immediately recognized as one of his creative writing assignments.  _ This should be good _ , he thought. Percy wasn’t super creative when it came to writing fictional stories, so he always just told real stories from his life. It was kind of therapeutic in a strange way.

“All of the assignments you turn in seem to be centered around a world you’ve created through a mixture of modern day and greek mythology. It’s really quite impressive. However, this last assignment had me a bit worried. As time goes on your stories get darker and darker, and I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Percy stared at the papers she was holding. Many of the words were circled to indicate spelling errors and there were notes written along the margins but he remembered what he wrote about. 

“You go into such great detail of the horrors and trauma these characters are experiencing. I had to take a break for a minute while reading it because I was hurting for them. You’re a great writer Percy. I just want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

He was at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say to that? Oh yeah, I’m just on edge because I haven’t been attacked in weeks. Very reassuring. Instead, he just managed a small sad smile.

“I’m working on it.”

She smiled warmly back at him. “That’s all I needed to hear. You’re free to get to your next class now. I’ll write you and Ms. Chase a note.

“And Percy,” she said as she was writing, “my favorite thing about your characters is that they never give up. Even in the depths of their worst nightmare, they made it to the end.” She gave him the late pass and went to file it away.

_ Not the end, _ he thought as he walked out the door. Annabeth was waiting for him. He could tell she’d been on high alert, but she relaxed when she saw him.  _ Not the end, but definitely something better.  _

Their hands linked as they walked to their next class. Just a couple of regular high school kids doing regular high school things. For today, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know there's not a lot happening here but I promise things are going to pick up in the next chapter which should be posted in another two weeks. So on the 20th be ready for some action!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm totally forgot to post yesterday so sorry about that! Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

It was Ava’s idea, obviously, to take a group trip to the mall. Percy had tried to get out of it, especially because they were going to be making their move on Lamia soon. But Annabeth thought it might be a good idea to take their minds off it for a while.

They all met up around noon and started wandering around the different shops. About halfway through, Ava decided to whisk Annabeth away to look at more “girly” things, and told Percy, Noah, and James to go have some bro time.

All well and good, but being apart from Annabeth, especially at a mall where there could be a monster anywhere at any time, put him on edge.

“You okay dude?” James asked. They were currently in a game store. Percy spotted some Mythomagic cards on one of the shelves.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just kinda crowded.” It was not, in fact, crowded in this particular shop.

“Do you need to go outside for a bit?”

“No, no, it’s okay.”

They kept shopping, but Noah gave him a questioning look. Percy shook his head to try to say that it really was nothing. No monsters. Yet.

_ Yet _ being the key word because of course, something had to happen soon.

And that something was a Laistrygonian. A cannibal giant. Great. And what was even better is that it was looking right at him.

“Guys,” He didn’t have time. The laistrygonian was still staring at him from outside the shop, almost as if waiting. They were trapped in a nerd shop. Noah and James turned towards him. “Whatever you do, don’t follow me. Try to get somewhere safe. See if there’s another exit and get out. Don’t wait for me.”

“What?” James was shocked. He didn’t know what was going on. Noah had turned as white as a ghost, with maybe a hint of green.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have time to explain right now. Noah will explain to you, but you have to go,  _ now. _ ” 

This time he didn’t wait for a response. He turned around to face his foe.

He’d faced Laistrygonians before, but he’d always had help. At the gym he had Tyson, in the labyrinth Mrs. O’leary, and in Canada Frank’s skeleton soldier had taken care of it. This time he didn’t even know if Annabeth would get here in time to help.

As he stepped out of the store, the giant smiled down at him. 

“Perseus Jackson. I’ve heard much about you. And now I, Bone Stomper, will eat you.”

He charged.

Percy pulled Riptide out of his pocket, threw the cap off, and swept it through the air while dodging all in one fluid motion. He sliced a thin line across the monster’s arm, but it was otherwise unaffected. 

Before the giant could turn around, Percy rushed at his back in an attempt to thrust his blade straight through, but a giant arm swiveled around, hitting him with enough force to throw him several feet into the air. He landed on his back, his lungs struggled to bring the air back in that was pushed out of them.

“HEY!” He jumped to his feet at the sound of that voice.

“Noah, stop.” he coughed. He was already running toward his friend. He looked scared out of his wits. People seemed to have caught on to the danger that was here, although what they saw, he had no idea.

“If you want to help, go find Annabeth. And get James and Ava out of here!”

“You’re bleeding.” Noah’s eyes were as wide as they were the day he got kidnapped. 

“Noah listen to me. You need to get out of here. Take James with you. I’ll take care of this.”

“HAHA! YOU WANT TO TALK TO YOUR LITTLE MORTAL FRIEND! I WILL EAT HIM TOO!” 

Percy shoved him out of the way just as the giant ran forward. With a swift movement, he managed to plunge riptide straight into Bone Stomper’s belly. The moment, however, carried them both forward and to the ground. 

If you’ve ever had a six and a half foot tall 400 pound man fall on top of you, you know how Percy felt in that moment. It thankfully didn’t last long as the weight on top of him turned into dust.

“Oooowww,” Percy groaned, “Noah, I changed my mind. Bring me my bag.” 

It took him a minute, but Noah finally found where his backpack had been flung in all the chaos. Percy, just now sitting up, reached in and immediately grabbed the little pouch of ambrosia he always kept with him and popped a small square in his mouth.

“Where’s Annabeth?” They looked around for a moment to find the mall practically deserted save for a couple of confused workers. “One of you needs to call Ava.” James, who had come out from the nerd store looking like he’d just swallowed an egg whole, grabbed his phone.

The more time that passed, the more distressed everyone was. Finally, James lowered his hand from his ear. “She’s not picking up.” 

After that, Percy scoured the whole mall, only to find nothing. Not even an Iris message went through to her, so he called Nico and Will to help him get his girlfriend back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this one is completely unedited, but once I finish the fic I'm planning on doing a full edit of the entire thing. See you guys in a couple weeks!
> 
> UPDATE: I'm so sorry! I don't have another chapter for you guys this week. Life decided to roundhouse kick me in the gut and judo flip me so I'm kind of recovering from that. I don't know when the next chapter will be out but I'll post it as soon as I'm done. Thank you all for the support and for being here and making it this far. It means more to me than you could know. Hopefully I'll see you all soon ❤


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